


Five moments on the roof

by Servena



Category: The Tribe (TV)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Love, Referenced Suicide Attempt, Relationship(s), The Mall, The Mallrats - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-05
Updated: 2016-08-05
Packaged: 2018-08-27 13:33:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 1,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8403580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Servena/pseuds/Servena
Summary: Five moments on the roof of the mall, some canon compliant, others not quite.





	1. Amber & Bray

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Sommerchallenge 2016.

Amber pushed against the metallic railing to test its stability before leaning on it with her arms. In front of her, the sinking sun bathed the city in orange light. A light wind brought the smell of salt from the sea and made the loose strands of her hair dance around her face.

“It looks so beautiful from up here, doesn't it?” she asked.

Bray stepped beside her. “Almost peaceful”, he agreed.

She pushed her hair back behind her ears. “As long as you don't look straight down, that is.”

The streets in front of the mall still looked like a hurricane had passed through. All kinds of litter was lying around and the windows of the opposite building had been smashed in months ago. The walls were painted with graffiti telling of _Locos_ and _Zoot_ and _Power and Chaos_.

She sighed. “I thought I could leave this all behind. The chaos and the madness. But I was wrong. This is home, for better and for worse.”

“I'm glad you didn't leave”, he said.

She smiled and leaned her head against his shoulder. Together they watched as the sun disappeared behind the buildings and the sky turned from orange to violet to blue.

“Right now, so am I.”


	2. Cloe & Salene

“Cloe!” Salene stepped out onto the roof and pulled the heavy door close behind her. “There you are. I was looking for you.”

Cloe sat with her legs dangling over the edge. When she didn't turn around, Salene sat down next to her carefully. “What are doing up here on your own?”

“Thinking”, Cloe mumbled. In her hand, she held the creased picture of a smiling girl.

Salene sighed. “Oh Cloe.” She put an arm around the smaller girl's shoulders and pulled her closer.

Cloe pressed her face into the fabric of her dress. “I miss her so much”, she whispered, barely audible.

“I know”, Salene said and moved her hand gently over the dark hair.

Cloe looked up at her. Her eyes were wet, but no tears were falling. “Do you really think they killed her?”

Salene shook her head. “I don't know, sweetheart.”

Cloe sat back up and wipes the sleeve of her shirt over her eyes. “They said they killed Bray, but they didn't. They just wanted us to believe he was dead. But if she is alive, why doesn't she come back?”

“Maybe she's afraid”, Salene said softly.

“I wouldn't let anyone hurt her. She's my best friend.”  

In front of them, the setting sun reflected in the windows of the nearest buildings.

Cloe tried to smooth the creases in the photograph and then slipped it back into her pocket.  “Maybe they're all out there and one day, we'll see them again.”

They looked out upon the city together. Cloe imagined what it would be like to see Patsy again and how she would hug her and tell her that she was forgiven.

But Salene thought of a smiling boy and a grave upon the hills and about how some people never came back.


	3. Jack & Ellie

They sat close together with their backs against the wall, overlooking the roof. Jack had his arm wrapped around Ellie and her head was resting on his shoulder. The silence they shared was comfortable, the way it used to be.

“I tried to jump off the roof once”, Ellie said suddenly.

Jack turned to stare at her. “What? Wh-When did that happen?”

“After you were taken.” She wasn't looking at him, instead pulling at the hem of her skirt with her fingers. “It was...you were gone and so was Alice and I didn't know how to go on anymore. Mouse and Charlie made me come down again.”

“Thank gods”, Jack mumbled.

“I also tried to kill Ebony.” This time, he just stared at her until she looked up. ”Aren't you going to say something?” she asked.

He shook his head. ”Sorry – I'm still trying to process – how?”

“What?”

“I mean - How did you try to kill her?”

Ellie looked down again and pulled a thread off her skirt. “With a cushion. I broke into her room.”

“Oh. Wow. Why? - I mean”, Jack continued, “not that I couldn't give you a long list of reasons why anyone would want to kill Ebony, but -”

“She let you get captured! She took you out there and then she came back without you!”

“Actually, that wasn't really her fault. I mean, I took that risk, I was careless, there was nothing she could have done.”

”She should have rescued you”, Ellie said quietly.

Jack sighed loudly. “I leave you alone for one minute.”

“You mean months.”

“Yeah, just – just don't do that again, okay? Promise me. Any of that.”

“Only if you promise you're never gonna leave me again.”

He pulled her close and pressed a kiss against her forehead. “I promise.”


	4. May & Salene

They stepped around the puddles that had formed on the roof the night before. The air smelled fresh, like rain and summer. The wind blew Salene's red hair into her face and she laughed as she pushed it back.

May looked at her from the side. “You're really beautiful, you know that?” she asked.

Salene smiled. “Yeah, sure.”

“No, I mean it. You're beautiful.”

Salene shook her head. “Not many people have called me that. Nice, yes. And kind and... But never beautiful.”

“Well, a lot of people are stupid”, May said dryly. Then she bent down and cupped some of the rainwater in her hands. “Here, see for yourself!” She held it out.

“See what?” Salene asked.

“How pretty you are, of course!” The water was already leaking between her fingers, dripping down onto the floor. “Hurry up before it's gone!” May shouted, laughing.

Salene leaned forward. “I don't see anything!”

“Then you must be blind!” May stated and splashed the remaining water in her direction. Salene screamed and jumped out of the way. Then she bent down to a puddle and retaliated. Soon they were running over the roof trying to splash each other, careful not to get too close to the edges.

When they stopped, out of breath, both of them were smiling. “Now our clothes are all wet”, Salene said and pulled at her dress.

May grinned. “Worth it.” She stepped closer, pushing strands of wet red hair out of Salene's face. “Or are you worried you aren't pretty anymore?”

Salene cocked her head. “Well, am I?”

May just looked at her for a moment. Then she leaned forward and pressed a kiss on her lips.

When she pulled back, Salene stared at her with wide eyes.

May stepped back. “I'm sorry, I didn't mean...”

Salene shook her head. “No, it's...it's okay. ...Can you do that again?”

Slowly, May’s grin came back. “Sure.” She leaned forward again.


	5. Lex & Tai-San

He sat down carefully next to the edge and only then risked a gaze down to the street below. It was empty, the wind was blowing a few bits of paper across it. He shrugged off his jacket and wondered when he would dare to go back down and face what needed to be faced.

In the end, she found him.

“Lex?”

He hadn’t heard her coming up, but there she was, standing behind him. He turned his gaze away from the abyss next to his feet to look at her. She was still wearing the techno uniform, but the blue braids were no longer tied up, but falling down freely. She had worn her hair blue before, he remembered, but not in braids, when they had gotten married. It felt like yesterday and like a lifetime ago. Blue really suited her, he thought. Her eyeshadow was a shiny blue as well, and the black eyelid lines, painted into sharp wings, accentuated her almond eyes.

She looked radiant, untouchable. It made his chest hurt with a feeling he didn’t care to examine closer.

“Can I sit?” she asked softly.

He nodded slowly and she sank gracefully into a cross-legged seat beside him. He remembered the first time he had woken up to her, and she had sat just like this meditating in his room. Otherwise he might have thought it had been just a dream.

She threw him a glance and he felt caught in his thoughts. “I think we need to talk”, she said gently.

“Yeah.” But everything he had wanted to say to her, endlessly repeated in the dark nights and played out in his dreams, unravelled in his mind until there was nothing left to reach his mouth.

The silence stretched between them. The distance between her knee and his feet seemed to grow with every passing second.

Finally she said, “I would understand if there was someone else.”

He searched in her face for hidden meanings, but she had never been as easy to read as him.

“There was”, he said slowly. “Not anymore.”

She nodded like she understood, and maybe she did. She had always understood him like no one else.

He forced the question out of his mouth, “Are we still…?”

She smiled. He noticed he familiar way the corners of her mouth pulled up and the skin around her eyes wrinkled. “We’re still married.”

Then she leaned forward and put her arms around his neck. He pulled her closer and she pressed her forehead against his and they stayed like this for a moment. He was breathing in the scent of herbs and incense and her.

The kiss that followed felt like coming home.

Afterwards they held on to each other. He ran his hands through her braids and buried his face in the crook of her neck.

“I missed you so much”, he whispered into her ear.

“I missed you, too”, she whispered back.

Neither of them let go for a long time.


End file.
